The donated land, which belongs to the Inter-American Institute
for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), was given in usufruct to the Tropical
Agriculture Research and Higher Education Centre (CATIE).
The original request was presented to the Governing Council of
CATIE by the Government of Costa Rica. It was brought to the attention of the
IICA Executive Committee in July of this year and was finally approved by the
IABA at its meeting in Jamaica.
The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica, Javier
Flores, thanked his colleagues for approving the request, which will do much to
improve the quality of life in Turrialba and the surrounding area.
The IABA made it clear that the land was to be used exclusively
for the construction and operation of a hospital or medical centre. The
resolution indicates that the land will revert to IICA if the hospital/medical
centre is not built and operational within five years of the date on which the
rights to the use of the land are transferred.
The Director Generals of IICA and CATIE, Chilton Brathwaite and
Jose Joaquin Campos, respectively, noted that both institutions are working on
behalf of the development of needy and vulnerable communities in the city of
Turrialba is one “A ways of showing that support\, they said, is to donate this
land.
Turrialba, located 60 kilometres from the capital of Costa Rica
is inextricably linked to agriculture of the Americas. It served as the first
home for IICA and is now home to CATIE. The first stone was laid by then Costa
Rican president Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia and Vice President Henry Wallace
of the United States.
For further information
patricia.leon@iica.int